What's new at PAHRC? The club is always up to something. Check out this page for the latest news in the world of retrievers. Are you looking for something for you and retriever to do? If so then check out the UPCOMING Events page.

Do you have some news? How about an upcoming event? Tell us about it, we'll post it for you.

Follow the links on the left to view latest PAHRC NEWS LETTER, or read any previous news letter.

Since 1937, sportsmen have paid taxes on firearms and ammunition, trusting their dollars would go to the states to buy land, manage wildlife, train hunters and build ranges. But now, a Congressional investigation has found this "sportsmen's trust fund" is being misused by the Clinton-Gore Administration, which even tried to fund a group working to ban hunting.

The US Fish & Wildlife Service has misappropriated at least $45 million in excise tax funds set aside for game conservation, turning the special accounts into cash cows for pet projects for the Clinton-Gore Administration.

US Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), a NRA Board Member and avid hunter who chairs the House Resources Committee, which has held hearings to focus public scrutiny on the Clinton-Gore Administration's betrayal of not only hunters, but also of our national wildlife resources.

Chairman Young is now drafting reform legislation and hopefully "get a bill to the floor of the House by Spring," says one Capitol Hill staffer. In the meantime, we have retained an outside contractor to do an independent audit, because no one is certain yet where all this money has gone.

America's hunters, shooters and anglers deserve a swift Congressional remedy to ensure that our trust cannot be abused again by anti-hunting political appointees burrowed deep within the Clinton - Gore Administration. Now is the time to call your Congressman to urge your support for Chairman Young's Pittman-Robertson reform bill.

**Look in American Hunter Magazine to read this complete article which is Part One of a Special Report.

The abuses to the Pitman-Robertson Fund are a direct attack against you the sportsman. The people and organizations leading this attack are predatory. We cannot defeat a predator by ignoring it and hoping they just go away. You need to become proactive to ensure that you and future generations have the right to continue hunting. Check out our Hunting Rightspage for links to pro-hunting groups and information and links to contacting your Federal Representatives.

HRC Implements SHR Title

After much debate the HRC has implemented a title for Started Retrievers. To earn this title a dog must successfully complete four started series. However only 10 points will carry towards titles.

Reaction seems to be mixed, some see no point in this title. There are some benefits:

1. If you have a dog who has not settled in and needs more experience under test situations.

2. This is the most important! This title gives us a chance to get new young handlers involved in our sport. PAHRC encourages everyone out there with a dog that can do the work but has not yet gone to Seasoned to enter the dog in Started and let a young Sportsman, or Lady, Grandchild, nephew, niece, neighbors kid run the dog and earn the Title!

The entry fee for Started is nominal and well worth the price. You'll make a lifelong memory for some young person. Let them go up and accept the title and receive their dunking!

PAHRC urges you to get behind this and bring a kid out to run Started for the Title!

AKC Announces Major Change to Judging Qualification

The AKC has now made it official that inorder to Judge any level of AKC Hunt Tests the Judge must have qualified a dog four times to Judge Junior, and five times to Judge Senior and Master (each). This is a major improvement, it will eliminate for the most part those Judges with no realistic view of what the handler and dog are going through.

It does however present a problem. It is often difficult to find Judges for a c lubs event. What is c learly needed is for more handlers to become Judges. Each c lub should actively encourage it's members to become Judges and work with neighboring c lubs to reciprocate Judging each others Hunts.